We’ve told you several times about the advantages of using local-deal sites. Most recently about a rooftop baseball game we attended using Groupon. We can’t stress enough the benefits of finding deals on events and activities that you normally would hesitate to pay full price for.
While you may not want to flood your e-mail inbox by signing up for as many deal sites as you can find, you should definitely sign up for certain ones which offer things that will be useful to you.
For example, if you plan on taking a trip within the next few months, it would be worth your time to peruse through these deal sites to see if you could save money while you’re there. Many of these sites offer local deals that pertain to food and entertainment, so not only would you be saving money – it could potentially give you ideas for your upcoming itinerary.
For anyone planning a trip to Chicago this summer, we took a look through some deals that could really help y
ou save:
- Groupon offers a full-day waterpark admission to Mayan Adventure Waterpark for only $15 (a $30 value).
- Take a 75-minute sail on the Tall Ship Windy for $15 (regularly $30).
- See Godspell at the Theatre and Interpretation Center at NU for only $12.
- Get $20 worth of frozen treats at Starfruit for just $10.
- Pay just $10 for $20 worth of spa services at Northshore Nail and Day Spa.
- Try $20 worth of Italian cuisine at Nicodino’s Pizza Co. & Cafe in Bartlett for only $10.
- Get 4 rounds of Mini Golf at the Wild Fun Center for only $10.
Total Value: $185
Total Spent: $82
Total Saved: $103
Be sure to check out Groupon Now! which offers hyper-local deals that are available for immediate use. This is currently only available in 20 cities and is great if you are already in town looking for things to do.
Although Chicago was used for this example, this is obviously doable for other cities as well. Groupon offers deals in over 170 cities in the US and Living Social to over 270 in North America alone.
While you might feel like these deal sites are just bombarding you, there are perks to being a consumer during this type of trend. These sites are competing with each other, and the best way to compete is to offer the best deal. Spend some time planning and researching and you could end up returning home from your trip with a little extra money in your pocket.